Sinn Féin - On Your Side

Anderson meets Council of Europe Commissioner over British government legacy failures

Sinn Féin MEP Martina Anderson today led a delegation to meet with the Council of Europe's Human Rights Commissioner Nils Muiznieks over the failure of the British government to deal with the legacy of the past.

Speaking after the meeting, Martina Anderson said:

"Today I led a delegation which included my party colleagues Linda Dillon MLA and Sean Murray, as well as solicitor Niall Murphy, to meet with the Council of Europe's Human Rights Commissioner Nils Muiznieks to discuss the British government's failure to address the legacy of the past.

"Seventeen years ago the European Court of Human Rights found that the British government had breached its obligations under Article 2 - the right to life - in relation to its activities in the north of Ireland.

"In the years since then the British government have deliberately delayed taking action to address that finding.

"It has also delayed and frustrated any and all attempts to seriously address the legacy of the conflict by hiding behind bogus claims of 'national security' and continuing to deny grieving families access to truth about the death of their loved ones.

"It has now compounded this by considering legislation to put its security personnel above the law by introducing a statute of limitations.

"We challenged Nils Muiznieks on the responsibility of the Council of Europe to robustly challenge the British government for their persistent failure to deal with the legacy of the past.

"We will continue to work on behalf families campaigning for truth and challenge the British government at home and in Europe on their abject failure on this issue."